Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American sports commentator and former competitive figure skater. A former competitor in women's singles, she was the 1997 U.S. national champion and world champion, a two-time Champions Series Final champion (1997–1998), and the 1998 Olympic champion. She is the youngest single skater Olympic champion and World champion ever, and until 2019 was the youngest to win the U.S. Nationals. She was the first woman to complete a triple loop–triple loop combination, which became her signature jump element, in competition.

Lipinski retired from competitive figure skating in 1998. She performed in live shows before retiring from figure skating in 2002. In 2014, Lipinski became one of NBC's primary figure skating commentators, alongside sports commentator Terry Gannon and fellow figure skater and good friend Johnny Weir.

Early life

Lipinski was born on June 10, 1982, in Philadelphia. Her mother is "Pat" Lipinski, and her father is Jack Lipinski, an oil executive. They are of Polish Catholic ancestry. She spent her earliest years living in the suburb Sewell, New Jersey. When Lipinski was two, while watching the 1984 Summer Olympics, she stood on a Tupperware bowl and pretended to be a gold medalist. At the age of three she began roller skating, and became a national champion in her group when she was nine years old. She began figure skating in the same year, transferring her skills to the ice rink. She later switched exclusively to figure skating and took lessons at the University of Delaware.

In 1991 Lipinski's father received a job promotion, so the family moved to Sugar Land, Texas, near Houston. She trained on a public rink at The Galleria. Two years later, Lipinski and her mother returned to Delaware to resume her training there with coach Jeff DiGregorio, who had worked with Lipinski, on and off, for three years before their move to Texas. Her father stayed in Texas working to support their family. In 1995, Lipinski and her mother transferred to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, to train with coach Richard Callaghan at the Detroit Skating Club. She then took first place in November in the Blue Swords in Chemnitz, Germany, her first international competition, after which the media began to notice her. With very low expectations at the event, she placed 23rd after the short program, but her free skate, which included seven triple jumps, brought her up to 15th place. Lipinski competed in the ISU Champions Series (later renamed the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating) during the 1996–97 season; she finished in second place at Skate Canada, third at Trophée Lalique, and second at the 1996 Nations Cup. She defeated Kwan, the reigning 1996 U.S. champion, who won the short program. Kwan fell twice and landed only four out of her seven planned triple jumps in her free skate, leaving the door open for Lipinski's victory. She was the last skater to perform in the competition's free skating segment; she skated cleanly with seven triple jumps, including her signature jump element, the triple loop-triple loop combination, and came in first place. According to author Ed Swift from Sports Illustrated, the 1997 U.S. Nationals marked the start of the Kwan–Lipinski rivalry.

A month later, Lipinski won the 1997 World Championships, becoming the youngest female skater to win that event. She was a month younger than the previous record holder, Sonja Henie from Norway, when she won the first of her ten World Championships in 1927. she contacted U.S. Figure Skating's streaming service Ice Network and offered to work as a commentator for competitions. Unlike what was customary for skating commentators when she competed, she would call figure skating from studios in the U.S. instead of live at the competition venue. At first Lipinski collaborated with Gannon at the women's events and Weir with Gannon at the men's events. Lipinski, along with Weir and Gannon, was an analyst at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Commentating during prime time at the Olympics had been a dream of Lipinski's. The trio also hosted the closing ceremonies of the 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024 Olympic Games. They were part of the broadcast team that won a Sports Emmy Award for its coverage of the 2024 Games.

NBC's Access Hollywood hired Lipinski and Weir in 2014 to analyze fashion on the red carpet at the 86th Academy Awards. She served as a social media, lifestyle, and fashion correspondent the National Dog Show since 2015, and the pre-game coverage for the Super Bowl in 2015 and 2017. They were called culture correspondents by People magazine for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Lipinski approached broadcasting "with passion, vigor and an arduous work ethic similar to what she brought to the ice". She spent hundreds of hours researching skaters. In Dick Button's opinion, Lipinski and Weir were "excellent", but that Lipinski "might talk a little too much", although Tom Weir stated that when skaters were "elegant and error-free", both Lipinski and Weir had "the good sense to stay silent". In 2018 and 2019, Lipinski and Weir hosted and appeared in a few shows on Food Network, including two seasons of Wedding Cake Challenge. In 2022, Lipinski co-hosted Wedding Talk with event planner José Rolón and wedding designer Jove Meyer, produced by Chicken Soup for the Soul Studios. In the same year, Lipinski and her husband, Todd Kapostasy, a sports producer and documentary director, co-produced Meddling: The Olympic Skating Scandal That Shocked the World, a four-part documentary series focusing on the skating controversy at the 2002 Winter Olympics, which was aired on the NBC streaming service Peacock in January 2022. Lipinski, who called the series "a deep and responsible look at what happened", said that she and Kapostasy chose to create the series because it was the 20th anniversary of the scandal and there had been no comprehensive look at what happened. They interviewed people in Russia, France, and Canada who were involved in the scandal. USA Today calls the documentary "a deep look into the scandal". She also wore a necklace with a good-luck charm, given to her by her uncle, with the words, "Short, but good". in her 2023 podcast, Tara Lipinski: Unexpecting. She told People magazine in August 2023 that during the previous five years, she had four miscarriages, four D&Cs, six failed IVF transfers, eight egg retrievals, was diagnosed with endometriosis, and had two major surgeries.

In September 2020, in order to help raise awareness of the condition, Lipinski made public her diagnosis of endometriosis after having laparoscopic surgery to treat it. Although her symptoms were not severe, the intermittent pain she experienced worsened over five years before it was diagnosed and treated. She reported that her surgery was successful, all of her adhesions were removed, and her recovery was "mainly pain free". She credited dancer and actress Julianne Hough and actress Gabrielle Union with increasing awareness of endometriosis, which encouraged Lipinski to seek out her own treatment.

Records and achievements

  • Youngest athlete (12 years old) to win a gold medal at the U.S. Olympic Festival (1994)

Figure skating

Programs

Competitive highlights

Television credits

  • Early Edition (1997), Herself
  • Touched by an Angel (1999), Alex Thorpe
  • Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1999), Herself
  • Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2000), Ellen
  • Vanilla Sky (2001), Girl at Party – Uncredited
  • Arliss (2002), Herself
  • 7th Heaven (2003), Christine
  • The Metro Chase (2004), Natalie Jordon
  • What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2005), Grey – Voice role
  • Whose Line Is It Anyway (2014), Herself
  • Superstore (2016), Herself
  • Kidding (2018), Herself
  • Amphibia (2019), Herself – Voice role
  • Wedding Talk (2022), Herself – Host
  • Extra Mile Club: Scotland (2025), Herself